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Amazing Race Canada, Featured, Orphan Black

Comments and queries for the week of August 21

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What channels will be casualties of à la carte?

If a show has enough buzz and Netflix doesn’t get to it first, some Canadian telecom will probably grab it. I think CraveTV has a bunch of British shows like The Fall already. “Edgy” stuff like Black Mirror will remain on a premium channel and/or HBO Canada.

My dad will be disappointed in Bite going because of the Trailer Park Boys reruns. I myself only know it because it airs a slightly different cut of Whose Line Is It Anyway? episodes than the regular CW version.

HBO, AMC, the main U.S. networks, CTV, CBC and major kids channels like YTV will be fine. Toss-ups to me are things like Space. Sci-fi is already a limited audience and those fans are generally less likely to rely on traditional TV anyway. It’s only mainstream hit in Orphan Black is apparently supposed to wrap in 2017 anyway so it might not last too long without it. And even if it did close before then, CTV would probably just take it for Season 5, they already air reruns and Saturdays at 9 p.m. aren’t exactly busy to begin with. —Dan Amazing

Teletoon Retro is going? That’s disappointing. That channel is in a list of 23 channels our household awould keep along with CTV, CBC, TSN, City, Global, YTV, Treehouse, Space, Disney Junior, MTV, CW, CBC Newsworld, Sportsnet, Wild TV, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Teletoon, APTN, Movie Central, Food Network, Showcase and Family Channel. I actually know a lot of people who like that Teletoon Retro, both adults and kids. My kids are quite taken with Jem and the Holograms, Care Bears and The Smurfs. —Ally

Eighty per cent of the channels could go and I wouldn’t miss them. One thing I am worried about is losing some of the better U.S. series from places like Starz, TNT, USA, etc., and also some British series that are currently being picked up by channels like Showtime, Bravo, A&E and Super Channel. These are shows we don’t have access to otherwise. If some smart channel concentrated on stuff like that, and actually did some marketing, they could probably make a go of it. —Dan

Is The Amazing Race Canada too difficult?

Last week wasn’t the big penalty episode, it was two weeks ago with the Face Off: Sami & Ope/Neil & Kristen not counting the penalty Nic & Sabrina had to take because it was unsafe to do the horse Detour after dark when they were U-Turned. Counting the two at the Face Off, the soccer one, and tonight, we have five official penalties across four teams so far.

At this point I have to wonder if some of the tasks are too hard. Kristin wasn’t wrong in saying you can use a penalty as strategy. Dujean & Leilani got third place with or without the penalty after all. I love how Jon was clearly about to fall over laughing at the Gagging & Wipeout Brothers.

On the one hand, I respect Sami & Ope for doing the math alone, on the other it seems rather stubborn and reckless. Luckily, they didn’t take another penalty this Leg or they would be out. Strategically, they gained nothing except maybe bragging rights at home now. I think it was just pride. They need to pick it up if they want to last longer.

I enjoyed the reunion. Ribbing Hamilton about the passport and Sabrina always struggling was funny. I also loved how everyone else froze when Dana casually let it drop they were still in the Top 3 of the fan poll. I guess that province is really happy they finally got a team on the show. And irony with Neil ribbing Nic for the soccer penalty. —Dan Amazing

 

Got a comment or question about Canadian TV? greg@tv-eh.com or @tv_eh.

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Amazing Race Canada, Featured

Review: Is The Amazing Race Canada too difficult?

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Almost every week of this season, I’ve remarked at how difficult The Amazing Race Canada challenges have been. It’s made for some pretty compelling footage, but after this week and last I have to wonder: did the producers make things too hard?

For the second week in a row—this time in Saskatoon—more than one team chose to take penalties rather than stick with the challenge at hand. And in the case of Neil and Kristin, it meant they were eliminated. I may make a similar decision in the heat of the moment—after frustration or thirst has set in—but from the safety of my couch I’d rather keep going rather than rely on other teams to stumble along the way.

One need only look as far as Ope and Simi for proof of that. Rather than team up with the other pairs at the airport to work out the 25-hour flight formula, they figured it out themselves. Rather than get frustrated with each other, they played cheerleader. The result? They came in second-to-last place and continue, proving to the other Racers that they’re a team to contend with.

Amazing_Race1

Meanwhile, birthday boy Brent and his brother Sean celebrated the big day with a first-place spot. The siblings smartly played their Express Pass to skip the flight-time challenge and dry-heaved their way to the mat in front of Jon Montgomery. This was Brent and Sean’s first-ever top spot, though not for lack of trying. They gamely soldier on, scoring consistent Top 5 finishes.

As for Gino and Jesse, the Race‘s strongest duo to date blew through this Leg’s tests with flying colours and placed second to Brent and Sean.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg:

  1. Brent and Sean (used the Express Pass)
  2. Gino and Jesse
  3. Dujean and Leilani (penalty)
  4. Brian and Cynthia
  5. Nick and Matt
  6. Simi and Ope
  7. Neil and Kristin (penalty, eliminated)

Notes and quotes

  • “I gotta take off my shoes to count past 10.” — Brian
  • I wanted to hear more of Ope’s story about wanting to be a pilot.
  • Cynthia and Brian’s plan to have more fun sure backfired, didn’t it?

The Amazing Race Canada airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

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Featured, Mr. D

Gerry Dee keeps it real in Season 5 of Mr. D

Mr. D is headed into its fifth season on CBC, and series creator and star Gerry Dee isn’t messing with success. He’s sticking with the formula that keeps viewers coming back every week: keeping it real.

“I always try to bring authenticity to the show,” Dee told Sirius XM radio hosts Humble & Fred during an appearance Monday morning. That authenticity continues in Season 5, when Dee’s small-screen alter ego, Gerry Duncan, experiences a student teacher with stage fright, educational assistants, a mother who can’t believe that her son is capable of pushing other students around and an odd item brought for Show & Tell.

“A friend of mine had this Grade 1 class and a kid brought in a vibrator for Show & Tell and thought it was a rocket ship,” Dee recalls. “So we shot the episode where a kid comes in and says he has a rocket ship and that it buzzes when you turn it on. I try to grab it and it falls and breaks. He’s trying to zoom it at my face and everything. Those are the stories we get from teachers sometimes.” Dee taught in a private school for 10 years before committing to stand-up comedy full-time. Now, a decade removed from the classroom, he brings teachers into the writers’ room to mine details for possible storylines alongside what he and his writing staff come up with.

“Things have changed. In Season 4 we did an episode called ‘Lockdown,’ which is something that’s, sadly, common now in schools but I’d never heard of,” he says.

With Season 5 of Mr. D set to return on CBC in the winter and Season 4 re-airing on City in November, Dee’s plate is pretty full. Aside from his homegrown sitcom, Dee is writing for other projects—like My Scottish Family for CBC—and is constantly touring, with dates in Toronto, Ajax and Mississauga, Ont., lined up in September and October. Those dates, he reveals to Humble & Fred, are in preparation for his next big stand-up goal.

“I want to do the Air Canada Centre within two years,” he says. “I sat down with my tour manager and looked at the ticket sales and it’s all adding up to 10,000 tickets. It may be a big mistake and I’d have to stay on television within the next two years. I’m planning to do that and tape it as my next special.”

Listen to the rest of Dee’s interview with Humble & Fred (his chat is during the last 20 minutes).

Season 5 of Mr. D returns in the winter on CBC.

Season 4 of Mr. D airs in a second window on City starting in November.

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